In semiconductor package designs, semiconductor dies are mounted onto a substrate, and then encapsulated in a mold cavity. Support substrates such as bismaleimide-triazin (BT) resin, FR-4 board, ceramics, and metal leadframe (e.g., Alloy42 or copper) are inflexible and maintain their rigidity inside a mold cavity during encapsulation. A useful substrate is a flexible polyimide tape. Metal traces are formed on the upper side and underside of the support substrate, and vias are formed through the substrate to interconnect the metal traces on either side. The traces can include pads for wire bonding bond wires to the die, and ball bonding pads for attaching external ball contacts such as solder balls to the underside of the substrate. Dies are typically mounted onto the upper surface of the substrate via solder bumps or balls, or by means of an adhesive paste or double-sided tape.
Encapsulating dies mounted on a flexible tape substrate can be problematic. When positioned in a mold tooling, as a molding compound flows into the mold chamber and around the mounted die, the flexible tape can flutter and become warped or bent resulting in a bowed die structure, and an uneven layer of encapsulant formed around the die structure, which can lead to structural failure.
In view of these and other deficiencies, improvements in die packaging and fabrication processes are desirable.